Dead Rising: From Another View
by Missy Sara
Summary: Ever wondered what it'd be like to be stuck in a mall full of zombies? Let Sara Richardson tell you.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone... Um, yeah. So, this is my first story, and I hope you enjoy it. Like everyone who has seen these zombie movies and played the games, I too wonder how well I would do in that kind of situation. Now, this story is probably wrong... because I know I would die in like... three seconds, because a large, undead being could easily overtake a skinny teenage girl.

I didn't know which movie or game to pick to base this story on. Dead Rising seemed like the most realistic option, because it's not filled with intelligent, well-trained soldiers and warriors fighting the zombies. It's just a bunch of normal people who got trapped in a mall while running from the threat. Also, I can kind of relate to Frank West. Like him, I'm just an average person, not the stereotypical young and good-looking hero or heroine.

This story does not feature all of the characters in the game. Frank is not in here and I got rid of some of the psycopaths. also, I replaced Isabella with an OC.

Oh yeah, and I'm sixteen, but the main character is nineteenThis story is supposed to be 'what would happen if I was there', but I figured it would be more believable if she was older.

So, here's my shot at a story!

* * *

Dead Rising: From Another View 

_August 2, 2008; 9:21 AM_

_Sara sat in the interrogation room and sighed. It had been four days since the ordeal. Four long, torturous days. She was haunted by nightmares from what had happened; she saw the undead forms of her friends she had lost in that forsaken place. She looked up at the ceiling in anger. She hadn't seen Alex in the four days she had been held in the federal jail... She suspected he was in another room. She looked to the door and scooted her chair back slightly when she heard the knob click. A middle-aged man walked in and sat down in the chair in front of her. He was overweight and balding. She also thought she smelled McDonald's on him. She hated fast food... but the thought of having to choose between the bread and water she got in the jail cell and the disgusting, grease-soaked food, she'd take the bread. No way she was taking any food from him personally. He may have tampered with it. The man cleared his throat and pulled something out of his pocket._

_"Hello, Sara. I figured we'd be here for a while, so I went ahead and got us dinner," he said, smiling as he set the McDonald's bag in front of her. She wrinkled her nose and glared at him. she wasn't falling for the nice cop act. _

_"I don't want it," she said, glaring at the man, "Where's Alex?" The man smiled and pushed the food closer to her._

_"Come on, someone as thin as you needs to eat. According to this, you only weight about... 112, 113 pounds? Huh?" he said, scribbling on some paper._

_"Where's Alex?" she asked, getting angrier, "And I weigh 110, thank you very much." _

_"My name is Detective Johnson... and Alex is safe. He's in another room, being interrogated as you are. He's worried about you too," he said, taking the food off the table. "So.. let's talk about the mall... What happened?"_

_"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT HAPPEN_E_D!" she shrieked and jumped up from her chair. Johnson didn't move. He sat there calmly and stared at her. He had handled rowdy prisoners before, and this one was no different._

_"Calm down... I just want to hear your side of the story," he said calmly. Sara scowled and looked away. She took her seat and buried her head in her hands as she began to tell her story..._

_

* * *

_

July 25, 2008; 10:58 AM

Sara looked out of the train window and sighed, bored. She hated going to small towns... but what choice did she have? If she was going to make any money, she had to check out the town of Williamette, Colorado. She got a call to photograph the city... probably for advertising traveling... but there was no reason for anyone to visit the town, except for maybe the mall. But even that wasn't very impressive. Her plan was to reach the station by train and switch to helicopter... apparently there was an accident or something, because she heard the roads had gotten blocked off. She didn't know why, but then again, she didn't really care. All she knew was that she was supposed to get pictures of the town and get paid.

Sara laid back in her seat and played with her camera. She now wished she had taken a different summer job. She was originally going to be a receptionist at that new salon near her house, but then she found an add for a photographer at a company... she couldn't even remember the name. All she saw was "Big bucks, good work." Those were the only words she needed to see. Plus, photography would be WAY more entertaining than sweeping up hairballs and answering a phone... even though she had no photography skill whatsoever...

Oh well. At least she knew how to use the camera.

She stepped off the train as it stopped and looked around the platform. She turned to see a man with large headphones on holding a card with her name on it. She placed the camera strap around her neck and walked foward.

"You Carl?" she asked, shoving her hands in her pocket. The man smiled- his teeth were coffee stained and dull looking- and threw the card to the side.

"Carl Jameson! And you're Sara Richardson, yes?" he asked. She nodded. "Wow... I expected you to be taller... and older..." She glared at him and rolled her eyes.

Sara was ninteen years old, pale, tall, and thin. Her blond hair fell just above her chin and was cut in a simple bob, her bangs ending just above her bright blue eyes. She was wearing a white T-shirt with a gold foil skull surrounded by roses and ribbon on the front, a dark blue denim mini-skirt, black leggings, and grey Rocket Dogs with a plaid pattern on them and no laces. She wore a good bit of make-up (some mascara, eyeshadow, blush, and eyeliner), but it was too light to really see it.

Carl was about... forty-ish? He had brown hair cut super short, almost a buzz cut, and a grisly brown moustache. He was wearing a bright yellow vest and bluejeans, just casual clothing. He laughed and motioned for her to follow him. She walked to the helicopter and climbed in, taking out her camera and adjusting the settings on it. Carl climbed in after her and began flipping switches on the helicopter's control panel.

"You freelance?" he asked as the blades began turning. He tossed her a pair of orange headphones and put on a pair identical to hers.

"Naw, I work for a place back home... We travel and take pictures for tourist destinations and news stories. Nothing big, though. The most exciting news stories we cover are, like, strikes against local Wal-Mart or something. I guess this is a tourism run... Don't know why they picked this little shithole town," she said, mumbling the last part. She snapped a few test shots and smiled as the helicopter began to rise. There was no side door, so she had to hold onto a rail above her head until Carl could get the helicopter to fly smoothly. Carl kept trying to make small talk, but Sara wasn't paying attention. She sighed when she realized that he would probably talk the entire way to Williamette.

* * *

_"How far away from the town were you before you realized something was wrong?" J_o_hnson asked. Sara lifted her head up and looked at him._

_"Can I have some water?" she asked hoarsely. She was already on the verge of tears, and she hadn't even gotten that far into the story._

_"In a minute. Just keep going," he said and continued to scribble on a pad. He scooted the tape recorder on the table aside and looked her in the eye. "When did you notice that something was wrong?"_

_

* * *

_

11:32 AM

"Whoa... What's going on?" Sara asked as she looked down on the town below her. There were roads blocked off and what looked like thee military leaving the town in armored vans. She felt a smile coming on. This was her chance to get her name in the papers! It was obvious that something big was happening!

"Don't know. Hang on, I'll get closer. Grab the rail!" he shouted. Sara's hand shot up and grabbed the rail above her while she used her other hand to zoom in as best she could with her camera. Unfortunately, she was still too far away to get a good view. She cowled and lowered the camera as she waited for Carl to take her lower. As the helicopter lowered, her eyes widened.

There were several people lying in the street, crashed cars, and several people that looked wounded limping through the streets. Sara let go of the rail, nearly falling out, and zoomed it. There was a guy on top of a car, smacking other people surrounding the car with a large piece of wood. Sara cursed in disbelief and snapped a picture of the man being dragged off of the car. She didn't see what happened to him, but she did see blood squirt up from where he fell. She turned and saw another mass of peole attacking a school bus! She snapped a picture and backed away.

"What the fuck is going on?" Carl shouted," Why hasn't this already been in the news?"

"Don't know..." Sara mumbled, shocked. She began to snap more pictures. She saw several people moving towards a gas station. She got a picture of the station just as it had exploded.

"HOLY SHIT!" Carl and Sara screamed in unison. Carl began to fly higher so Sara could get a better look. She got a picture of a girl being knocked off a building by another group of people.

"Oh my God," she breathed, "Take me to the center of town! I wanna check that out," Sara ordered.

"You got it, kid," Carl said. She could hear the nervousness in his voice. She waited patiently while they approached the mall. Her mouth dropped and the camera clicked rapidly as she pressed the button. The crazed people were surrounding the mall! Some were merely wandering around in random directions, but the majority were banging on the doors and windows, trying to get in.

"Try to get closer to the m- Aaah!" she shrieked. The helicopter had swerved, nearly knocking her out of the side!

"Hang on! We got company!" he said. She grabbed the rail and looked out of the side door. There were three or four helicopters following them, yelling out orders to leave- some were even firing shots at them! They were missing Carl's helicopter though, so the fire was probably just to scare them. She lost her footing as the helicopter swerved again. Her eyes widened as she felt the rail above her loosen. 'Great,' she thought, 'they couldn't even give me a decent helicopter!'

"Can't you keep this damn thing steady?" Sara yelled as she tightened her grip on the rail.

"Shaddup! I'm doin' the best I can!" he yelled back. They got closer to the mall, about thirty feet from the roof, and the helicopter made a sharp turn. The turn was too sharp, however and Sara screamed as the rail holding her broke. She rolled out of the helicopter, clutching her camera to her chest and hit the ground. She landed on her feet, in a crouched position, and rolled over, yelping in pain. She opened her eyes and looked down at her ankle, fearing it was sprained. No damage...

"Wow," she mumbled. She remembered that she was still wearing the headphones. "Carl! Help!" she yelled, frightened. What if he left her behind?

"Look, sorry, but until the security loosens up... I can't come back for you," he said. Sara's heart sank. "I am coming back though! It'll just take a couple of days... If you're still alive." Sara groaned and slammed her fist onto the concrete in frustration. "Keep the headphones... They're hooked up so that when I'm about three miles away from you, we can communicate. I'll see you."

* * *

_"What happened to Carl?" Johnson asked._

_"I'm getting there," she said, glaring at him for his impatience. She took a sip from her water and leaned back in her chair. "I want to see Alex." she said again, more forcefully this time, though._

_"You will. Just be patient. We just have to hear your story," Johnson said, glaring at her, "I'm getting pretty sick of your attitude."_

_"I'm getting sick of this shithole interrogation room. I want to go to bed," she said, getting up._

_"We're not d-"_

_"I'll tell you some more tomorrow. I'm tired," she said. _

_"Okay... That's enough for now, then," Johnson sighed, pressing the STOP button on the tape recorder. Two guards came in and escorted her out of the room. She groaned as she was led to her cell._

_

* * *

_To be continued! Akex will show up in the next chapter, so don't start typing reviews that say 'who's Alex?'. 


	2. Madonna!

Chapter 2: Madonna!

* * *

_August 3, 7:00 A.M._

_"Day two, huh?" Sara sked, looking darkly at Johnson as he tried to push a cup of coffee her way. She turned away and sneered. "Coffee makes me nauceous..."_

_"What? Weirdo," Johnson said, laughing. He took her coffee and drank it. "I'll send for some juice or milk... you want a muffin? Bagel?" Sara looked at him and then looked awya, thinking. She didn't want to accept anything from this cop. She felt that it would show weakness... Then again, she needed to get her story out. she could be nice for a few days..._

_"Bagel. Raisin... and apple juice," she said, turning to him. "Now, where were we...?"_

* * *

July 25, 11: 37 A.M. 

"Three... days?" Sara breathed, not able to believe it. She slowly got up and looked around, frightened. What if those psychos were already in the mall? What if they saw her land on the roof? What if-

"Hello there," a voice said. She squeaked and whirled around. there was a Hispanic man in a white shirt with corn on it (Wow... And she was told that SHE had a starnge fashion sense...), gray pants pulled up a little high, and brown cowboy boots. He had long hair, maybe two or three inches longer than Sara's, a very thin goatee, and dark, piercing eyes. Sara could almost see a little anger behind them.

"Wh... What's going on here?" Sara asked, looking over her shoulder to see the mob growing below the mall.

"You brought this upon yourself," he said, moving closer to her. She didn't move, but she tightened her grip on her camera, not afraid to use t as a weapon if she had to. The man smiled and walked away. Sara didn't move for a few minutes. She then walked to the edge of the roof and snapped a few photos before turning to the door leading to the staircase. She opened the door slowly and tried to make her way down the stairs as quietly as possible. She heard voices downstairs and she froze.

"...over here! Put it on top of..."

"You never come home anymore... is that what you call...? Stop yelling!"

"...hurts so bad..."

"MY BABY! MADONNNAAAA!"

Sara slowly made her way down the stairs and held her camera, ready to capture anything. She was greeted by a frantic old woman. She squeaked and dodged the woman, allowing her to run up to the roof. The woman turned back around and began shaking Sara.

"Have you seen my Madonna? I can't live without my precious baby puppy-woo!" she sobbed.

"Whoa, lady!" Sara snapped, swatting the woman's hands away, "There's more important things going on than a missing dog. Now, can you tell me what's-"

"**MADONNA!**" the woman shrieked again and ran back down the stairs. Well, at least there were a few sane...kinda sane... people left. Sara quickly walked down the stairs, looking down to the main door. A makeshift barricade had been built, and it appeared to be keeping the crazed people out. There was an overweight man with a heavy southern accent commanding the other people building the barricade. She snapped a picture of the survivors building the wall and then made her way down to the first floor.

"'Scuse me, sir?" Sara asked softly, standing behind the man. He turned around, staring down at her with beady eyes. She could see exhaustion in them... How long had these people been here?

"Eh? Where'd you come from, now?" he asked, scratching his head. His eyes then got wide. "Is there another entrance?"

"No! No, I fell out of... my helicopter," she said, crossing her arms and grumbling, "I hit the roof. There are no other exits that I know of."

"The other areas are blocked off, now. They can't get in... yet," he said, looking back to the barricade of furniture, garbage cans, and other various objects., "But no need to worry. Zombies are stupid and slow. They won't git through fer another couple o' days."

"Z... Zombies? Wha?" she asked, snapping a picture of the zombies behind the barricade. She shook her head. No way these were zombies!

* * *

_"Why was it so hard for you to believe that they were zombies?" Johnson asked, puzzled._

_"I was taught that zombies were merely movie elements. I grew up watching all of the zombie movies known to man... Hell, I've played several games with zombies in 'em," she said, taking a bite out of her bagel, "You expect me to believe that the same creatures from my PS2 were standing in front of me? No. I was in denial, I guess." She looked away blankly. "I heard Alex was sick... is it true? The guard told me."_

_"Just finish the story for today... then you can see him," Johnson said, feeling slightly guilty for keeping her away from her friend._

_

* * *

_"Yep," the man said. He stepped in front of Sara as she was taking pictures. "Feel like makin' yerslef useful?"

"Not really. I'm busy-"

"Too bad!" he said, glaring at her, "We need all the help we can git! Go find stuff to block the door with!" he ordered sharply. Sara sneered and turned around. She froze when she saw a boy standing by the stairs.

He was about her age, if not a year or two older, tall, and slightly pale. His hair was about an inch shorter than Sara's (Sara's hair fell down to her chin), black, and covered his eyes. He was thin, and was wearing a plain black shirt with long sleeves and a pair of faded jeans with several holes in them. He looked up when he felt someone staring. sara felt a chill go up her spine when she saw his light brown eyes. They seemed to stare right through her.

"Guh..." she said. Were she a cartoon, her eyes would have been huge, pink hearts... Was she drooling? No.

* * *

_"So... Are you and Alex-"_

_"It was a crush," Sara said quickly, looking away, "Y'know... He's not a bad looking guy... but there's no romance." Johnson smiled and looked down, shaking his head. He knew she was lying._

_

* * *

_"No time t'be droolin' over boy, now!" the overweight man yelled, shoving Sara towards a hall of stores, "Git down there!"

"Yessir," Sara growled, walking away quickly. Her flirty side kicked in, and she began swaying her hips lightly as she walked away, in case the boy was still looking. Can you blame a girl?

She frowned when she looked at the end of the hall and saw that it was blocked by a gate. Great. If the barricade failed, all they would have to retreat to was the secong floor and the roof, and after that, they would be trapped. Plus, she didn't know how much of the second floor was blocked off. Sara clutched her camera close and quickened her pace. She saw a shape moving on the other side of the gate. Up close with zombies!

"Hello _Time_!" Sara said, smiling. She dashed foward, as did the shape. She frowned when he got close enough for her to see what he was. He was just a regular old man. He walked with a cane and was wearing a red tux-ish suit. He was balding, except for a tuft of white hair on top of his head. She took a picture anyway. She was snap happy. The man glared and rushed to the gate, poking it through the holes, nearly hitting Sara in the face! "Aaah! Watch it!"

"Why have you summoned me here?" the man gowled, waving the cane at her.

"What're you talking about? I just got here!" she said, backing away and taking another picture of him, "I don't know what's going on here... Hey! Wait!" The old man turned and jogged away. "Can you raise the... never mind." She shrugged and began to walk back to the main plaza when she heard the old lady again.

"Madonna! My Madonna is out there!" she was crying. Sara ignored it and continued walking until she actually saw what was happening.

The woman was breaking down the barricade.

The other people around her were trying to hold her back, but she managed to knock them back and throw down a grandfather clock and a few benches. that was enough for the zombies to get in. Sara screamed and ran up the first few stairs, stopping to look back. The woman was in the crowd. She saw blood splurt up and the screaming for the dog stopped. One of the men that tried to hold her back was quickly overtaken. An overweight zombie tackled him to the ground and bit down on his throat, pulling back sharpl and causing blood to spray in all directions. Sara felt the color drain from her face and she took off to the second floor. She saw a man waving at her and another survivor who was already on the second floor to folow him. She didn't know what else to do, so she took off after him. She was so scared, she wasn't even sure where she was going. She just kept her eyes on the man in front of her until he stopped running. She ran straight into him, falling back onto her bottom.

She looked up, wide-eyed at the room and the man she had followed. She was in the security room, obviously, because she saw a row of monitors above a desk on the other side of the room. There were three or four large couches, and even a couple of mattresses... She guessed that some other survivors must have already made this room their "base".

She looked up at the man. He was tall, black, bald, and had a very muscular physique, even though it was covered by a large yellow shirt and khakis. He seemed like he would be in law enforcement, because Sara felt that he had that sort of "I know you did something wrong and I'm going to find out what it is" look to him, y'know?

"Where are the others?" he asked her, holding his hand out to her. She grabbed it and stood back up. She looked around, still confused.

"I-I don't know... I hope they got away," she said, biting her nails. She knew that they didn't make it... once again, however, she was denying that this situation was even real. She looked to the other survivor that came with her. He was a security guard, and he was welding the door shut. "H-Hey!"

"As long as the zombies are in the mall... We should stick to using the air vents for travel," the man said. He was about to walk away, but Sara grabbed his sleeve.

"Hang on! What the hell is going on here! Will someone PLEASE tell me?" she asked impatiently.

"That's none of your concern," he said, yanking his sleeve out of her hand.

"Hell yeah it is!" she snapped, "I was almost eaten by those... zombies! Of course its my concern! Now please tell me-"

"I'm going to go find other survivors," he said, ignoring Sara. She sneered and crossed her arms.

"You got a name?" she asked. The man turned and glared for a second.

"Brad. Now stop talking," he said, climbing into one of the vents. Sara shrugged and sat down on one of the couches. Her head was still spinning. She couldn't believe that this was happening... She felt herself drift off as she passed out on the couch, falling sideways and letting her head rest on the armrest.

* * *

_"Only two made it... wow," he said, unwrapping a power bar._

_"In the security room, yeah," she said, "Alex and a number of others found shelter in other places, I guess... I never asked him how he got by the first wave of zombies."_

_

* * *

_"Hey... Wake up," a voice said, gently. Sara groaned as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Whoever was talking began lightly shaking her. She opened her eyes slowly at first, then shot up and began looking around rapidly.

"How long was I out?" she said, panicked. She felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders and hold her steady. She turned her head and saw a young woman with blonde hair, shoulder length, and dark blue eyes. She wore glasses and a hair barrette, pulling some of it away from her face. She was a lot curvier than Sara, and wore a gray dress-suit along with high heels.

"Just a few hours," the woman said gently, "You're just in shock... You'll be fine." She looked into Sara's eyes and smiled with relief. Sara slowly stood up and looked around.

"Has anyone else... come in?" she asked, looking towards the security guard that came in with her.

"No... Brad went out... but he hasn't been back since you passed out," she said, looking towards the monitors, "he went across the street... to the other buildings nearby."

"Other buildings?"

"Yeah, a supermarket, a pharmacy, and even a couple of outlet stores," the woman said, standing up and walking towards a desk, "I'm going to find him... stay here," she ordered. Sara saw her holding a gun as she climbed into the vent Brad had used. Sara waited about ten minutes, until she was sure the woman was gone. She grabbed her camera off of the floor where she dropepd it and began moving towards the vent. She stopped when she realized she was unarmed. She decided that she would wait until she got out there before worrying about weapons... after all, she was a fast runner, and she remembered that the zombies moved at a slow pace. Sara turned towards the security guard.

"If they get back before I do, tell them I'll be back in a few minutes," she said. She didn't have time to be worrying about survivors, she needed to get her story! You can call her self-centered if you want, but hey. She had a job to do. She could worry about the others later. She climbed into the vent and began crawling, unsure of where she was going. She kept going until she saw another vent that had already been opened. She guessed that that was where she would find Brad and the woman. She peeked through it to check for zombies. When she didn't see any, she slowly lowered herself as far down as she could, and then let go. She landed on her feet as quietly as possible. She froze and began listening out for any signs of life. She heard slow, sluggish steps from around the corner. "Zombies, eh?"

She saw an emergency fire extinguisher on the wall. She figured that that would work for now. She took it out of the case and crept around the corner, hugging the wall. She heard whoever was on the other side quicken their pace. She dashed around the corner and raised the extinguisher, ready to bring it down.

"Aaaiiiieee!" Sara froze when she ran into the woman from before.

"Jesus Christ!" Sara exclaimed, stumbling backwards. The woman was on the floor, a little shaken up. Sara saw her ankle. It was swollen, maybe sprained. The woman tried to get up, wincing as she stood. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're hurt... You need to go back to the security room."

"No! I can't find Brad! He was attacked!" she said, panicking. She held the gun tightly. Sara groaned and looked up at the ceiling. Okay... Brad and this chick may know what's going on... may as well help...

"If I get Brad... Will you tell me what's going on?" Sara asked, holding her hand out to take the gun. The woman looked at her, unsure if she could trust Sara. She sighed and looked down at the floor, knowing that she probably couldn't help Brad if she was hurt.

"I can't tell you anything without Brad's permission... but I'll tell you what I can when he returns," she handed Sara the pistol, "My name's Jesse, by the way."

"Sara Richardson... Photojournalist," she said. Okay... not exactly a journalist... but you never knwo who might want to hire her after this story aired! "Where's Brad?"

"Other side of the mall... There are two plazas. You can get to the second one through this hallway rather than the direct link, since the gates have blocked it off."

"Okay, I'll be back. See ya'!" Sara said, trying to give Jesse a smile to reassure her. She took off, seeing Jesse get back up by using a chair. She hoped that she would find out what was going on when she found Brad.

* * *

_4:00 P.M._

_"Wow... You told a lot more today than yesterday," Johnson said, turning off the recorder. Sara looked towards the door._

_"Alex isn't really sick... is he?" Sara asked, worried. Johnson looked at her and sighed._

_"The wound he received when we grabbed you wasn''t treated in time. It's infected, and he'srunning a moderately high fever... He's asleep now, but you can see him," he said, looking away. Sara jumped up and allowed herself to be led to another cell by the guards. She walked in and they shut the door behind her._

_"You can stay here tonight," one of the guards said. She watched them leave and sat down on the floor by the bed, looking at Alex's flushed face. He was breathing hoarsely and shallow, and his eyes were clamped shut. She could see his hand grabbing the wound on his side tightly, as if it would help. She placed her hand on his head, letting him know she was there. He stirred lightly and let his head roll over in her direction. Sara smiled and held back her tears. He looked awful._

_Alex opened his eyes slightly and looked at her._

_"Sa..." he started. Sara held her other hand up to silence him._

_"Shh, just go back to sleep.. I'm not leaving," she said. Alex moved closer to the wall, making rom on his bed. Sara's eyes widened a little, but she kept her composure and sat on the bed beside him. She stroked his head to calm him down as he began to sweat even more and groan in pain._

_"It hurts..." he croaked. _

_"You'll be okay... I promise," she said softly, laying down. He slowly relaxed and fell asleep. Sara smiled to herself and pulled the covers over him. She eventually fell asleep beside him, unaware that Alex had wrapped his arms around her in his sleep._

_

* * *

_Nyahaha... Sorry, I can't resist the fluff. Sorry Alex didn't get that much screen time now... but I promise he'll come in soon, since I promised he'd be introduced in this chapter. I feel bad. Please don't be mad at me! 


	3. Alex

* * *

Chapter 3: The Shooter

* * *

_August 4, 6:00 A.M._

_Johnson entered Alex's cell, thinking that maybe he could get more out of Sara if he let her stay with Alex. He looked in at the cell and saw that Sara had grabbed a chair and was sitting against the wall staring the window and occassionally looking at Alex. She didn't seem to even notice Johnson. She would just fix her gaze on the few passing clounds she could see through the barred window. God, she wanted to get out of here so badly..._

_Johnson sighed sadly and unlocked the cell, walking in. Sara turned to him and glared darkly. She pulled the blanket up to Alex's shoulders and tilted her chair against the wall while balancing on the chair's back legs and her own feet._

_"Why hasn't he been helped?" she asked angrily, eyeing the wound on Alex's side. _

_"Hey, our medics are busy with the soldiers we sent down to Williamette-"_

_"So the bastards that tried to kill us are more important than Alex?" she snapped bitterly. Johnson looked away, feigning guilt. He scooted closer and sighed. Sara sneered, not falling for his act, but hiding her suspicion. She knew he didn't give a damn about her or Alex. He just wanted his story... Just like she had... _

_"I'm sorry... The medics should be back tomorrow, I think," he said, trying to reassure her. Sara looked back at Alex and sighed. He wasn't looking as bad as he was yesterday, but he hadn't even stirred for the past few hours, and his breath was still a little strained sounding. "Say, while we're here, why don't we pick up where we left off yesterday."_

_"Fine... now where was I?" _

* * *

July 25, 2008, 3:47 P.M.

Sara stopped running as she neared the second plaza. She heard moaning and looked quickly to her left. She saw a female zombie stagger out of a shoe store that resembled one of survivors she saw when she first entered. She panicked and began fiddling with the gun, unsure of how to use it, when she saw that the zombie was coming towards her. Crap! Why hadn't she ever taken up her dad's offers of going with him to the shooting range? Would have been useful now! Sara began mumbling, as though pleading with the gun, and pressing the trigger. Had she known what the safety was, maybe she would have known how to turn it off...

"Aiiieee!" she shrieked as the gun went off, the bullet going through the zombie's head. She stared for a second and blinked. "Well... that works too..." She repositioned the gun in her hands and began running, dodging two or three zombies instead of wasting bullets on them. She froze as she heard human voices. One was Brad, and the other sounded faintly like the guy she met on the roof, but she couldn't be sure because he was too far away.

"Brad!" she called, taking off toward the plaza. She saw Brad turn towards her; his eyes widened.

"Shit! Get down!" he barked. Sara's eyes shot up to the second floor and she jumped back behind the directory as a rain of bullets hit the other side of it. Sara screamed to make the shooter think he had hit her. Thebullets stopped, and as soon as they did, she darted to where Brad was. She fell onto her stomach and put her hands over her head as more bullets hit the ground past their barricade.

"What's going on?" Sara asked shakily. Brad glared, stood up, and fired a few shots at their attacker.

"Bastard's got an uzi," he growled, reloading his pistol and getting on the ground beside Sara. "The hell you doin' out here?"

"Jessie sent me," she said, sitting up on her knees for a second, but threw herself back down and yelped as she saw a bullet hit the tile next to her. Brad sighed and shook his head. He looked to the shooter and then back at Sara. He scowled and pulled out some extra bullets. He couldn't do this alone...

"Take these... I'll need your help," Brad said, handing her the rounds. Sara loked to the bullets and then back at Brad.

"'Scuse me?" she asked.

"Look, You don't have to kill him, but I need you to take his attention off of me," he said, scooting closer to the barricade. Sara scrambled over to him. "When he stops firing to reload, I need you to shoot at him, distracting him. If you can hit him, that's great, but if you don't I'll take care of him."

"So... I just shoot at him? Where will you be?"

"I'm going to work my way up to him. I need to capture him alive and preferably wounded," he answered, loading his gun.

"Why?"

"Just do what I told you or we're both dead!" Brad snapped. Sara nodded and waited for the bullets to stop. She had noticed that hit took him a few seconds to reload, so she had to be fast. The bullets stopped. She jumped up, whirled around, and began squeezing the trigger rapidly. Brad took off towards the escalator. sara eyed the shooter. It was the guy from the roof! But why were Brad and Jesse after him? Did he have something to do with the zombies? She ducked back down as soon as her gun ran out of bullets. The shooter began firing at the barricade as Sara reloaded. She winced as a bullet broke through and grazed her ankle, but bit down on her lip and ignored it. There were more important things to do.

The bullets stopped. She jumped up, but faltered as she began firing. Damn! That hurt more than she thought. Oh well. She began firing even faster as she saw Brad getting closer. She heard the shooter yell and saw Brad tackle him to the ground. She sat down and took deep breaths while examining her ankle. It didn't look bad. She would live. She heard Brad yell curses and slowly got up to see what was happening. She saw the shooter running away and Brad chasing him. Sara jumped up and began following their movement on the lower floor, looking up to see where they were running. She had an obvious limp, but it didn't slow her down too much.

"Brad? Brad!" she called, looking around frantically. Worry began to fill her mind. She didn't see Brad or the shooter... come to think of it, she hadn't seen any zombies either!

A cold, clammy hand gripped her wrist and snapped her out of her thoughts. She whirled around and screamed as a zombified man leaned foward and prepared to bite her shoulder. Just as his teeth touched her skin, a knife flew into the zombie's head. Sara fell back and the man fell on top of her. She frantically threw the body off of her and scrambled backwards until she was up against the wall. she slowly looked up and saw the black-haired boy she had seen when she first arrived. He stepped foward and pulled the knife out of the zombie before walking over to Sara and kneeling in front of her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, holding his hand out to her. He had a hint of a Spanish accent. Sara merely looked up at him, shocked from the incident, and fainted.

* * *

_Alex stirred and groaned, his hand tightening over the wound. Sara looked at him and felt tears well up in her eyes. She hated seeing him like this. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder._

* * *

Sara rolled her head from side to side as she woke up. She looked at the ceiling for a second before bolting up. A hand pushed her back down.

"Ssh, just relax. You're hurt," a voice said. She looked to her right and saw the boy looking at her, concerned. Sara's hand shot up to her shoulder.

"W-was I... bitten?" she asked shakily. The boy laughed and shook his head.

"No, I was talking about your ankle. Were you shot?" he asked softly, lifting up her legging to show her the bandages. Sara looked around. She wasn't in the security room... It looked like a storage room. It was about the size of a small store with various boxes and objects scattered around the room. She was lying on an old mattress off to the side of the room. She tried to pull herself off of the mattress. The boy leaned foward and stood up with her, kepping his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"Y-Yeah.. I was in the lobby... Brad!" she gasped and tried to run towards the exit. Pain shot up her leg after the first few steps and she fell foward with a yelp, gripping her ankle.

"Whoah! Easy, chica," the boy said, resting his hand on her shoulder and stroking her arm to comfort her, "It's infected. You need to rest."

"But... I don't know if Brad got the shooter... and Jessie..." she gulped, remembering that she had left the girl in the hall, alone and unarmed!

"Shh, we can go find your friends when you're better, okay? Right now, you really need to take care of yourself," he said softly, helping her up. She hissed in pain when she put weight on her foot. The boy lifted her up and quickly set her back on the mattress. Sara turned to him.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Alex Keyes. You?" he asked, sitting by the mattress.

"Sara... Richardson," she mumbled, rolling over onto her side to face him. "They're in the security room... please... I have to get tp them-"

"We will go when you are better. Now please, just relax," he ordered in a stern voice. Sara rolled back onto her back and clsoed her eyes, groaning as she began to fall asleep.

* * *

_"Wow, you two really care about each other, huh?" Johnson asked._

_"Yes, but it's not a romantic relationship for the third time. I don't know how to explain it... but, I felt safe with him at that time... Im not sure why," Sara said, stroking Alex's hair and looking at him with a small smile on her face._

_"Do you think he loves you?" the detective asked._

_"If he does, it probably won't work out. We met in a traumatic experience... Just because we survived being ripped to shreds by zombies doesn't mean that we have to get together."_

_"Sa..." Alex croaked, looking over at Sara and Johnson, "Can'... Breathe..." _

_Sara gasped and looked at Johnson. _

_"Please! Get someone!" she yelled, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. Johnson ran out of the room, yelling for a medic. Sara began to cry even harder as Alex's breath shortened. Then, the breathing stopped. "Alex? Alex! Please! Alex!" she cried. She frantically shook him and called out his name. What was she supposed to do now? She was alone... No, he couldn't leave her now!_

_Then she heard soft laughter and she let go of Alex. He was looking up at her with a large smile, the color back to his face and his eyes bright._

_"A-Alex! You fucking asshole!" she sobbed, falling to her knees and letting her head fall onto the bed. Alex rolled over onto his side and stroked her head._

_"I'm sorry, Sara. Sara," he pleaded softly, hugging her head close to him, "Please stop crying... Sara... I'm sorry... Sara..." Sara couldn't stop crying and climbed up into the bed._

_"W-why would y-y-you do th-that?" she sobbed. Alex held her closer and began whispering comforts in Spanish and English. Sara buried her head in his chest, still crying._

_

* * *

_To be continued...

Wow, Alex is kinda evil.


	4. Friend? Foe? Maybe Both

Chapter 4: Friend or Foe? Maybe Both.

_"You're an asshole," Sara grumbled once she had calmed down. Alex smiled evilly and stretched. He winced and grabbed his side. Sara laughed smugly and got out of the bed._

_"What did you tell him?" Alex asked._

_"I told him what happened... well, some of it," she said, taking her place in the chair across from the bed. She leaned back, relieved that no one else was in the room. "Now, it's your turn to talk. What happened after I passed out?"_

_"Hmph," he grumbled, "You were only out for thirty minutes. What could have happened?"_

_"You called Carlito," she said. Her smile was gone. She now looked at him with a mixture of betrayal and curiosity. "What did you tell him?"_

_"How do you know I called him?"_

_"I just know. What did-"_

_"Argh! Shut up! I didn't call him!"_

_"Then what were you doing?" Alex eyed her and slowly got out of the bed. He leaned over her while she was sitting and stood with his face centimeters away from her._

_"I was watching over you," he said, leaning in closer. Sara put her hand in between their mouths._

_"You aren't getting out of it that easily," she said, pushing his face back. Alex pouted and fell back onto the bed with a sigh._

_"I told him I had a potential hostage," he groaned. Sara's eyes widened as he made the comment. "We were looking for Barbady... we thought that if we could get ahold of a hostage, we could get the cops to cooperate and hand him over to us..." He looked up at Sara. She glared at him fiercely but then relaxed her face._

_"... Is that al-"_

_Sara was cut off by Johnson rushing in with medics. Alex had already heard them coming ahead of time; he had flopped back onto the bed and was writhing in false pain. Sara took the hint and immediately turned the tears back on. Johnson led her from the room, and along the way, she began to talk..._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"...No tengo una idea! No... no... Carlito! No seas estupido! NO! Carlito? Carlito? Estas alli? Agh!" Alex threw the phone at the wall and it broke, hitting the wall witha sharp _crack!_ Sara eyed the boy, pretending to be asleep. He growled and slumped against the wall he was closest to. He ran his hands through his hair and looked at Sara. "Wake up, damn it..."

Sara let out a false groan of pain and sat up, rubbing her head as if it hurt. She looked over at Alex and blinked.

"Yo," she said, standing up slowly. Her ankle didn't hurt as badly as it had before, but it still stung.

"Back in bed," he ordered. Sara cocked her head to the side.

"What's wrong?" she asked innocently. He shook his head and walked towards the door.

"I'm going to... go get some drugs for your pain," he said coldly, "Don't leave. I'll be back." Sara stared at the door he left through until she heard his footsteps fade. She instantly began looking for another way out. The air vents were too high up, and there was an emergency exit which probably led outside... Outside was probably a bad choice. She sighed and quietly made her way towards the door he had left through. The door led to a hallway which was probably hooked to part of the mall. She walked as fast as she could without making any noise. She didn't see Alex, but that didn't mean he wasn't nearby. She heard growling and groaning as she got closer to the exit. She cursed when she realized that she was wounded and unarmed. She crouched down for a second, preparing to make a mad dash through the door and whatever was on the other side. She silently counted to five and took off.

She threw herself against the door...

...It didn't budge. It was locked.

"FUCK!" she yelled, rubbing her arm and shoulder, "Fuckfuckfuck that huuuuuuurt!" she groaned. She made her way back to the room when she heard shrill laughter from above. She looked up and saw Alex looking down through a hole in the ceiling.

"Hahaha! That was priceless!" he laughed. Sara growled and flipped him the bird before walking back to the room.

"BASTARD!" she yelled. She limped back to the bed, still listening to him laugh at her. She collapsed and groaned and cursed as she heard Alex re-enter.

"Priceless... Sorry, dollface, I wanted to see if you'd actually try to leave," he chuckled. He sat down on the bed next to her. She didn't respond. He placed his hand on her shoulder. She suddenly lashed out and struck him across the face.

"Let me go!" she threatened. Alex smirked, his cheek red from the blow.

"No," he said simply.

"Why not?"

"Because I said so, sweetie."

"Asshole."

"Bitch."

"Cocksucker."

"Cun-"

He didn't even get to finish the word. The pain had magically vanished from her ankle and she proceeded to jump Alex and beat the living shit out of him. She didn't think the situation through, however. Alex was taller and slightly stronger than her, and he managed to pin her down and wrap his hands around her throat. His knees were diggint into her arms so she couldn't use them and he ignored her flailing legs. She spat at his face and missed. He glared angrily and tightened his grip. Sara let out an anguished cry as she found it harder and harder to breathe.

After what seemed like hours, Alex finally let go and got off of Sara. She rolled over and began coughing and convulsing.

"F...Fucking... ass..." she wheezed. Alex smirked and walked out. He turned back to Sara before closing the door.

"Be a good girl while I'm gone, babe," he laughed. He closed the door behind him and Sara heard it lock.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_"Wow... What a dick... Pardon the language," Douglas said. Sara laughed and leaned back in her seat._

_"Don't apologize... He is," she laughed, "Anyway, he didn't come back after that. I lost track of time after he attacked me... But I did know that it was dark outside. I heard crickets. I was sure that he was dead after... I think it was an hour and a half, so I broke out through the air vent. I stacked some boxes up and climbed up through the vent..."_

TBC...

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

That was short. Um... Hokay! So...

Thank to the reviewers! Sorry I haven't been updating! I promise I'll get better about that! I've also had requests about Sara's lines, so no more Frank quotes! Now, this may be a totally different storyline than the game. Hopefully... If I slip up and give her one of Frankie's lines, don't get mad! 'Kay thanks!


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